Swisscom revamps pay TV service with new apps

Swiss pay TV service Swisscom TV is revamping its digital service with a raft of new digital applications and an updated video-on-demand platform.

The Swiss platform, which is backed by the country’s telco, is launching a range of smart phone applications including a video-on-demand app, a weather app and a news app and has also increased the service’s tie-ins with Facebook, Flickr and Picasa.

The company has also increased the number of titles available on its Teleclub on Demand service, which launched five years ago, from 500 movies and TV series to 5,000.

The company is also encouraging Swiss TV households that do not currently have a digital TV service to sign up ahead of analogue switch off with two new introductory packages. It is launching Swisscom TV Select, which has no monthly cost but allows access to the Teleclub VOD service, and Swisscom TV Smart, which costs CHF50 (€40) and offers more than 50 television channels. Existing subscribers to its basic TV package, meanwhile, will receive 16 HD channels on the service from December.